


The Secret Diary Of An Aeroplane

by likeamigraine (eatintoothpaste)



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Cabin Pressure Exchange, Gen, POV Inanimate Object
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2012-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-22 11:08:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/609171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eatintoothpaste/pseuds/likeamigraine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>GERTI sort of likes them. Well, all right, it's more than that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Secret Diary Of An Aeroplane

**Author's Note:**

  * For [in_lighter_ink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/in_lighter_ink/gifts).



> Written for the first (I think) Cabin Pressure Exchange. Prompt by **in_lighter_ink** : _Outsider POV -- what are someone else's (Carl the ATC? a passenger? Gerti herself?) impressions of Gerti's crew and their relationships?_.  
>  Beta-read by **sallycandance**. Thanks. ♥

GERTI sort of likes them. Well, all right, it's more than that. She sort of _loves_ them; however, she would never say it out loud. First of all, because she's, well, an aeroplane, and she can't talk, but it's also because Carolyn's cynicism has rubbed off on her, and she doesn't like to overthink such things as feelings and all that stuff.

She – all right, all right, all right – loves them. She loves them, because they're not Gordon. And because they saved her from Gordon. _Twice_. They are her family, and – although they are a half-witted forever-young lad, an old and always on the verge of bankruptcy woman, a stuttering, incapable _Captain_ , and an uppity, three times divorced pilot – she loves them just the way they are.

Even if, sometimes, they unnerve her so much that she has to cry "land proximity" just to let them know that something is wrong. Maybe nothing related to their distance from the ground, but still wrong nonetheless.

 

She met Carolyn and Arthur when Carolyn was still married to Gordon.

They went on several trips together, and each time it was the same. Arthur would try to draw the attention of his father, Gordon would say something rude to his son, Carolyn would stand up for Arthur, and then there would be shouts, recriminations, and talks of divorce. It would leave Carolyn sobbing inside GERTI, with Arthur sobbing along with his mother, and, at the same time, trying to cheer her up with that nonsense babbling of his.

In that period, GERTI, during her flights alone with Gordon, thought about dropping off the sky and killing him, several times. A suicide mission to help Carolyn get rid of her nasty husband once and for all. What made her change her heart was Carolyn threatening Gordon of obtaining GERTI in the divorce, towards the end of her marriage with Mr. Shappey. Gordon sneered at his wife, but GERTI _knew_ that Carolyn was stubborn enough to win. Therefore, she decided to hold on and wait for her new life to begin.

Working for MJN air was completely different from the future she expected, but it was still better than being property of that sod Gordon Shappey.

 

To put it in the nicest way possible: she has grown accustomed to Arthur's constant chattering. It doesn't make her want to drop out of the sky, but she doesn't like it either. Most of the time she tries to ignore it, but then, sometimes, she trembles in such a way that makes Arthur drop the coffee. Nothing too cruel, though.

But then, one day, she hears Arthur cry in the same desperate way he used to when his parents were still married and had a fight. She's honestly worried: he may be unnerving, but he's still Carolyn's son. And he's kind of sweet, in his own, peculiar way. She'd like to ask him what's wrong, but she, well, can't. However, she doesn't need to, because when Arthur's sobs stop, he starts talking all by himself.

«GERTI, why is everyone so mean to me?» he asks, still sobbing a little. «I thought it was just a problem I had with my father – because he's, well, not brilliant – but maybe the problem is _me_ , because everyone treats me like a clod. Clot. Whatever.»

She'd love to tell him that, despite his being incredibly annoying sometimes, he's the nicest person that has ever stepped foot on her.

«Do you want to know what happened, GERTI? Sure thing. We were at the zoo, and we were having a lot of fun. _I_ was having a lot of fun. The zoo was literally crammed with wild animals – well, once wild, since they're now in a cage – like penguins, polar bears, giraffes, and everything. It was brilliant! Brilliant like an incredibly brilliant thing! And then Douglas told me that, yes, the zoo was literally crammed with animals, but they surely weren't as happy as I was, nor would they think it was brilliant. He told me everything about those poor animals, and he ruined all the fun and the brilli...ance in the zoo-experience,» he takes a long breath and then he starts sobbing again. «And Douglas is not an animalist. He doesn't care about animals as much as I do. He doesn't care at all. He just wanted to spoil everything. He's mean.»

Poor, poor, naïve Arthur, thinks GERTI. Douglas can have a ruthless sense of humour, sometimes. All right, she, herself, finds Arthur pestering with his incessant talking about futile things, but what's the use in hurting him like that when all it takes to shut him up is to say, well, "shut up"?

She lets him sob in his seat, clutching his self-made hat to his chest. She can't do much to comfort him, but she can still lull him to sleep with the low buzzing of her engines. When Carolyn, Douglas and Martin find him, Arthur is sleeping peacefully in a warm and soothing environment. Carolyn asks why the lights and the heating are on, glancing at her "incompetent, useless and money-wasting pilots" sideways – especially at Douglas, because she's still angry at him for making her son run away in that way, and forcing them to follow him all the way back to the airfield to make sure he was okay.

GERTI, still, is not satisfied. Therefore, she decides to screw up Douglas's next five landings – even if it's a little painful for her – littering his flawless-pilot-and-awesome-human-being pose with mistakes. And when Arthur, along with his mother and Martin, mocks Douglas for the roller coaster-like landing, she's so pleased that she forgets her landing gear-ache quickly.

 

Speaking of which. Douglas. Well, well, well, Douglas. Tricky subject, this one. A really complicated topic to address.

Sometimes she likes him, and sometimes she can't stand him. Sometimes she loves him, and sometimes she hates him with the same burning passion.

She hates him for his arrogance, for the way he treats people, especially when said people are weaker than him on so many levels. Especially when said people are Martin and Arthur.

She likes him because he treats her right. His landings are smooth – unless she decides to screw them up out of revenge – and she feels safe knowing that he's in control. She can trust him, even when he uses her for dropping out of the sky and chasing polar bears.

(And, with one of his witty plans, he saved her from Gordon's grip that time in Russia, when the sod came back to claim her as his – or rather steal her. This is what she tries to keep in mind when she feels like hating him with every single metallic part of herself.)

She can't stand him, because he can't see that, beneath his many layers of self-confidence and uppity, he's a wreak. An ex-alcoholic with a lot of ex-wives who prefers to scare people away with his sarcasm rather than admitting that he cares about them. He truly cares about them.

And this is why she loves him. Because, even if it happens once in a blue moon, he is indeed able to show how much he cares about his fellow members of the MJN family. It's not easy to spot that flickering hint of affection, but if she squints she can see it. Sometimes. It's in the way he reassures Carolyn about how everything is going to be fine in the end, because, come on, he's so smart and charming, things can't go wrong as long as they have the blessing to have him on their side – which is a way of saying: you can definitely count on me; it's in the way he tries to entertain Arthur, like an older brother would do with a younger (and rather slow) sibling; it's in the way his relationship with Martin has developed during the years, growing slow and steady until it has become something that resembles friendship.

It's in the way he talks to her when he's alone in the cockpit.

«Look, maybe sometimes I'm not completely fair with you, but, well, I'm so glad that I prevented Gordon from stealing you. And, just for the record, I don't speak to other aeroplanes. Consider yourself lucky, GERTI, because you are _indeed_ a lucky girl.»

And, although she agrees, she decides to sabotage his next landing, just because his smugness is unbearable and _has_ to be evened out in some way.

 

Douglas is not the only one who talks to her when no one is around. Martin does. And he does it a lot. Sometimes GERTI feels overwhelmed by his constant blabbering, but at least when he's alone he doesn't stutter, although he still makes those funny noises with his throat, and he tries to speak in different voices.

Sometimes she feels almost embarrassed, because he tells her things that he would never tell to a girlfriend – if he has ever had one. GERTI knows that she should feel flattered, because the things he whispers to her are really nice, and because Martin, under all those layers of fear, self-consciousness and anxiety, is a really good-looking young man. And she has always had a thing for red heads. But still, it's a little bit embarrassing, because, really, Martin professing to her his never-ending and all-consuming love for being an air... dot Captain and being airborne? It takes everything to a new level of, well, madness.

«Look, I know it may seem insanel» ( _Forget the "seem"_ ) «but you're really important to me. Against all odds» ( _Definitely "against all odds". I still remember your last landing. Especially my landing gear remembers it_ ) «I became a Captain flying you, fulfilling my life-long dream» ( _"Fulfilling my life-long dream"? Really? Theatrical much?_ ). Sometimes she misses Douglas's arrogance.

«I'm so glad you're still with us» Martin tells her after St. Petersburg. If GERTI could, she would sigh ( _damn weak spot_ ).

She helps him out with his next landing, which goes as smooth as silk.

 

«I'm still trying to figure them out,» confides to her Carolyn's new love interest. «If only you could speak... I'm sure you would be a great source of information». He looks terribly normal, especially compared to her fellow MJN friends. GERTI doesn't know how to act around him: she has sort of forgotten how to act around normal people.

Than Carolyn lets slip that he's frightened by sheep and GERTI feels immediately at ease. And sort of happy for Carolyn.

But, shush, it's a secret. Being Carolyn's plane she has a reputation made of stiff upper-lip and tongue-in-cheek-ness to live up to. (But, really, she's rooting for being-named-after-an-aeroplane-should-have-been-a-give-away-for-his-not-being-completely-normal Hercules).


End file.
